Eddie Murphy is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-, Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actor, film director, producer and comedian. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He has also enjoyed a minor singing career.
Murphy has received Golden Globe nominations for best actor in a comedy or musical for his performances in Beverly Hills Cop, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls, and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role.
Murphy's work as a voice actor includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in the Shrek series and the dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan. In some of his films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character, which he calls a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers (who is famous for playing multiple roles in one film), films which Murphy has played multiple roles include Coming to America, Wes Craven's Vampire In Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films, where he played much of the Klumps clan, Bowfinger and 2007's Norbit. Another trademark of Murphy is his deep, infectious, and considerably goofy laugh.